


Foes With Benefits

by Hound and Hare (tittysatan)



Series: Vladdy Kink [6]
Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Electrocution, Fightsex, Illustrated, M/M, S2 E11 Secret Weapons, astonishingly, something resembling aftercare, there is no way in hell jazz would be bad at catching ghosts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-11
Updated: 2019-03-11
Packaged: 2019-11-15 11:01:48
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18072194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tittysatan/pseuds/Hound%20and%20Hare
Summary: Jazz has taken over as the new defender of Amity Park, and without any ghosts to fight, Danny finds himself frustrated in more ways than one. While Vlad might not be his first choice of ally, you know what they say about desperate times.





	Foes With Benefits

Danny Phantom, defender of Amity Park, had been feeling kind of off lately. Possibly because the whole “defender of Amity Park” wasn’t so much a thing anymore. No, ever since Jazz admitted she knew he was a ghost and started helping out, well… For some reason, Danny thought she wouldn’t be any good at the whole ghost hunting thing. That was the only reason he agreed to let her help out in the first place, because he hadn’t been expecting her to steal the spotlight! But boy, did she steal it. Three ghosts caught on their first night out, complete with perfect one-liners, while Danny could do nothing but float there and watch. He should have seen this coming. Jazz was a genius, she’d been trained by Maddie Fenton, and she had detailed information on every ghost they’d ever fought, courtesy of Tucker. Of course she was unstoppable.

“Danny, are you listening?” Jazz said, startling Danny out of his daze. “I was just explaining the Specter Storage.”

“…the what now?”

“See, I knew you weren’t,” she sighed, tapping the paper in front of him again. “As I was saying, I figured out the main problem in your methodology: even when you catch a ghost, you just toss it right back into the Ghost Zone, and a month later it’s here to hassle us again. We wind up fighting the same ghosts over and over, so of course there’s no end to it! So we’re going to stop the catch-and-release. Any ghosts that meet the business end of a Fenton Thermos go right into the Specter Storage, never to bother us again.”

“So… It’s a prison for ghosts?”

“ _And_ a source of clean energy!”

Danny sighed, rubbing his temples. It wasn’t that he was annoyed Jazz was running the show here, it was just… “Don’t you think that’s kinda messed up, just keeping them in there forever?”

Jazz shrugged. “They’re the ones who decided to come here and start trouble.”

“…you really take after Mom, huh.”

“Aw, thanks! Anyways, based on my calculations, all the regulars should be caught within a month, which means that many fewer ghosts to fight. You’ll have your evenings back!”

“…wow, thanks.”

“No need to thank me, just doing my part,” Jazz said, collecting her notes. “Well, I’ll be down in the lab tinkering with the Jack-of-Nine-Tails if you need me. See ya!” She gave Danny’s hair a quick tousle and headed off, humming cheerfully to herself.

Danny let out a groan, slumping forward onto the kitchen table. At this rate, he really would be rendered useless in no time.

 

* * *

 

Jazz was wrong. It didn’t take a month for the usual suspects to be caught. It took a week. And of course once word got out that ghosts who went to Amity Park didn’t come back, they stopped coming _fast_. So in no time flat, the only ghosts still on the loose were Skulker and Plasmius, and Danny had more time than he knew what to do with. You can only play so many video games before even that starts to get boring. So yeah, he was kinda on edge.

And the thing was, he wasn’t just frustrated, he was _frustrated_. Danny was a teenage boy, the very last thing he should be having trouble with was keeping it up, and yet here he was! He’d developed a habit of jerking off after coming home from a night of ghost hunting, just to relax a bit before going to sleep, and now that there wasn’t any ghost hunting to come home from… Well, his body just would not cooperate. It had reached a point where Danny was constantly distracted by a vague horniness but never quite in the mood, and even when he pushed through and made himself come it never really took the edge off. It was starting to drive him crazy.

Danny wanted his job back, dang it. Even if it did mean he’d go back to spending his nights getting roughed up and tied up and electrocuted by ghosts. He missed being the hero of Amity Park; he missed feeling like he was actually doing something useful. But Jazz was so good at this, just like she was at everything else, and he didn’t know how to ask her to leave things to him.

These were desperate times, and that meant desperate measures.

When Danny sneaked into the Fenton Ghost Portal, the Ghost Zone was, well, a ghost town. Not a soul in sight. Folks had learned fast that Amity Park wasn’t worth the risk, so there was no sense in loitering around the portal like they used to. Yup, things had gotten real bad.

Luckily for Danny, the portal in Vlad’s mansion was open. Careless, sure, but it’s not like his parents were any better about it. He drifted through the huge, empty, tackily decorated halls, following the faint sound of classical music, before reaching what seemed to be the library. And sure enough, there was Vlad, lounging in an armchair with a steaming mug of tea next to him, and…

“Are you _knitting?_ ”

Vlad jumped a foot in the air at Danny’s words, whipped his head around to see him, and hurriedly shoved his knitting into his dressing gown. “N-no I’m not! And what are you doing here anyways, you miserable brat?”

“You’ve got yarn sticking out,” Danny said, fighting back laughter.

“…just answer the question, boy,” Vlad muttered, tucking loose strands in.

Danny took a few deep breaths, trying to compose himself enough to speak. “So, uh, you’ve probably heard about what Jazz has been up to?”

Vlad frowned thoughtfully. “So I take it _that’s_ why so many ghosts have been disappearing in Amity Park as of late.”

“Exactly! She’s completely taken over my job, and now no one even comes by anymore,” the boy said, crossing his arms.

“I see, I see…” Vlad said, music stopping abruptly as he lifted the needle from the record player. “So you want me to help you take back your place as hero, do you? How devious.”

“…you don’t have to put it like that,” Danny muttered.

“Here’s the thing, little badger,” Vlad said, stroking his beard and smirking down at him in a way that probably would have been a lot more striking if his chest wasn’t bulging with yarn. “This is no skin off my back either way. I’m not foolish enough to get caught by the likes of a Fenton, and neither are my spectral allies. So if Jasmine wants to keep the Box Ghost off the streets, I see no reason to stop her.”

Danny heaved a sigh. “…what do I have to do to convince you.”

Vlad’s smirk widened. “Oh, nothing much. I was just thinking we could have a little sparring match, that’s all. I’m sure you must be in the mood, after not being able to let loose all these weeks.”

A strange shiver ran up Danny’s spine at his words. Now that Vlad mentioned it, he _was_ itching for a fight. It really had been too long. And he’d never turn down a chance to kick Vlad’s butt. “You’re on, old man,” he said, green eyes flashing as he grinned.

“That’s my boy,” Vlad said, going ghost in a rush of darkness and lunging at him. Danny didn’t even have time to turn intangible before Vlad had tackled him, shoulder hitting hard against the floor and skidding as he went down, and it _hurt_ , there was gonna be a nasty bruise tomorrow morning, and Danny hadn’t even realized how much he missed this. He was still grinning as he kicked Vlad hard in the gut and scrambled up from the floor, readying a blast of energy only to be struck by one before he had a chance to fire, slamming him into the wall.

Yup, this was just what the doctor ordered. Danny’s body was all aches and his suit was starting to rip and fray here and there and he hadn’t felt so alive in weeks. He was still trying to catch his breath when Vlad was on him again, getting in a punch that left Danny spitting blood before he hit the man clean in the chest with an energy blast, sending him flying into the armchair so hard the whole thing broke, Vlad’s tea spilling all over him.

“You know, Vladdy, I oughtta thank you,” Danny laughed, hauling him up by the collar and going for a punch to the gut, only for Vlad to catch his hand in both of his and knee him hard in the side. Danny barely managed to keep his footing. “I think I really... n-no, wait, timeout timeout timeout!” he stammered, waving his hands wildly as he realized something was very, very wrong. This… This wasn’t… This didn’t make any sense…!

Vlad let his energy blast fizzle out as he watched Danny desperately try to cover himself (not gonna happen, not in a skintight bodysuit), expression shifting from puzzled to amused to strangely hungry. “Why Daniel, no need to be so bashful,” he purred, smirking, not even trying to hide that he was staring at Danny’s erection. Jesus Christ he got a hard-on while fighting Vlad _and now Vlad was staring at it_. “It just means that it’s time to take this game of ours to the next level.”

“What? No. What are you even– What _game_ – No!” Danny didn’t even know what he was saying at this point. “What the heck are you talking about!?”

Vlad blinked. “You…you’re serious right now, you really don’t know?”

“Of course not!”

“But I thought we were…” Vlad said, eyes downcast, almost pouting. “Did we not have an arrangement whereby we get off on fighting one another?”

Danny felt like he’d been hit by a bus. “What.”

“Restraints, too, mustn’t forget that.”

“ _What_.”

“Do you really not… But you were always so enthusiastic!”

“ _No?_ I seriously have no idea what you’re talking about right now!?”

Vlad crossed his arms sullenly. “…well frankly, I feel rather used.”

“ _You_ feel used?” Danny laughed. “I was apparently in some, some kinda BDSM thing, with my _nemesis_ , and I _didn’t even_ _know!_ ”

“I thought we had a tacit agreement!” Vlad said. “Can you really claim not to enjoy this, excited as you are?”

“…that’s, well, I mean…” Danny stammered, trying to cover himself again. All the confusion had made it start to fade again, but he was still very definitely turned on. For the first time in weeks. For the first time since he last… “…oh no.”

Yup, Danny Phantom sure did have a big ol’ fightboner.

“I cannot believe it took you this long to realize,” Vlad sighed.

“ _I_ can’t believe you realized before me, thought I knew, and assumed we had a thing,” Danny muttered, red-faced. “Like, that’s a lot of logical leaps to make.”

“It was the only explanation I could see for your behavior! But now that we’re both on the same page…” Vlad approached Danny where he was backed against the wall, slamming a hand next to his head and leaning in close, and oh boy there was that hard-on again. “…what do you say we make it official?”

“Uh…” Danny wanted to say no. He really did! But after weeks of frustration his bruised, aching body was absolutely dying for it, erection growing painfully hard as Vlad knotted a hand in his hair, and as much as he wanted to say no, he wanted to get off even more.

Without a word, Danny grabbed Vlad by the collar, spun them around to slam him into the wall, and kissed him. “If we’re gonna do this,” he said as he pulled away, “you’d better do it right. No holding back.”

“Oh, you needn’t worry about that,” Vlad smirked, drawing a gasp from Danny as he wrenched his head back by the hair, then a ragged cry as he bit his neck hard enough to draw blood, kissing and sucking at the wound, dragging his tongue over it. Danny was gonna need to wear a turtleneck tomorrow, he realized vaguely. Good. He wanted to be properly messed up by the end of this.

Danny shoved Vlad to the ground and bore down on top of him, straddling him, grinding up against the man’s erection as he dragged him up by the hair and into another kiss, moaning into his mouth. God yes, this is what he needed, who cared if it was weird, who cared if it was with his enemy, who cared about anything but scratching this itch.

Vlad flipped them over, slamming Danny’s head into the floor and pinning his wrists above his head. Jeez, how had he lived without this? Their legs were tangled together as they rutted up against each other through their clothes, Danny panting and moaning wordlessly as Vlad kissed and bit at his neck, the pain driving him closer to the edge as much as the pleasure, until finally it was too much. He cried out as he came, grinding up against Vlad as he rode it out, before finally collapsing, body heavy and pleasantly spent after what was easily the best orgasm of his life. It was _satisfying_ , was what it was; after weeks of frustration, that need was finally satisfied.

“Glad to see you enjoying yourself, my boy,” Vlad murmured into his ear, still hard against him, “but don’t think for a moment that I’m done with you just yet. No, I’m going to inaugurate this new partnership of ours _properly_.

An excited shiver ran through Danny at his words. He might not know what “inaugurate” meant, but he had a pretty good idea of what Vlad was getting at. “You’d better,” he replied, kissing him hard, dragging his teeth over the man’s lower lip as he pulled back.

“…that said, you probably need a moment to catch your breath, so I’m going to take the liberty of making a phone call,” Vlad said, sitting up cross-legged and settling Danny onto his lap. A bit jarring, sure, but Vlad was right, he could use a sec to get his head straight. Besides, it was surprisingly comfortable, curled up against his broad chest in a daze of afterglow, one of the man’s arms around him as he pulled out his phone.

“…yes, hello. … You see, young Daniel stopped by to ask for a favor, I proposed we have ourselves a bit of a sparring match, one thing led to another and he found himself getting all excited, but when I suggested we take things to the bedroom he denied knowing anything about our arrangement! … No, he was genuinely quite confused. … You know I wouldn’t joke about this. … I know, I didn’t believe it either! … Well, it’s alright now, we’ve sorted things out. … Yes, precisely. … Oh, most definitely. Exceeded them, even. … Yes, I think you should. I’m sure he’d appreciate the company, and I certainly don’t mind sharing. … See you then. Ta!”

“…who was that?” Danny asked as Vlad tucked his phone away again.

“Skulker, who else?”

“Don’t tell me he thought we had a thing too.”

“Of course he did.”

Danny groaned, burying his face in Vlad’s chest. “Jeez, is there anyone in the Ghost Zone who _doesn’t_ think we’re BDSM buddies!?”

“To be fair, it’s not often one meets someone with as much enthusiasm for being tied up and shocked as yourself.”

Danny opened his mouth to say something in his defense, realized he didn’t have anything, and closed it again with a huff. “…actually wait, is he coming over?”

“He certainly is,” Vlad said, shifting Danny off his lap to stand, then grabbing him by the collar and pulling him to his feet, “but we’ve some time until then, and I haven’t had my fun with you yet.”

“I was wondering how long you were planning on making me wait,” Danny said, licking his lips.

Vlad’s only reply was to shove him face first into the wall, bending him double and pinning his hands above his head. Danny was helpless to do anything but squirm as he felt the crotch of his suit torn out, exposing him completely, then a hand beginning to stroke his rapidly hardening cock. “Aaahh, Vlad…” he moaned, back arching as he tried to thrust into his grip.

“Why, you needy little slut,” Vlad murmured into his ear before biting it hard enough that Danny cried out. “You really can’t get enough of this, now can you?”

Danny was in too much of a daze to even try and deny it. All he could to was let out a whine as Vlad took his hand off his cock, then a soft moan as fingers teased at his ass. “Hurry up…” he said, gasping as a finger pushed inside him. It felt weird, it _hurt_ , especially when he added another right after without giving him time to adjust, but Vlad was right. Danny really couldn’t get enough. He squirmed against Vlad’s grip as he was stretched, pushing back against his fingers for more of the touch, jolting and crying out as somewhere sensitive inside him was brushed up against. “There, more…”

Vlad chuckled, removing his hand entirely, and Danny was ready to shove him to the ground and take what he wanted when something hot and hard and slick was pressed up against him instead. Ohhh boy. Vlad leaned down over him, grinding between his legs, reaching up to tease his nipples through his suit, and Danny was all but drooling in anticipation. “I hope you’re ready, Daniel,” Vlad murmured, before driving inside with a single stroke.

Danny screamed in pain and pleasure, barely able to stay standing, hell, barely able to stay _conscious_. The sensation was overwhelmingly, almost unbearably intense, and Vlad hadn’t even started to move inside yet, kissing at his neck and caressing Danny’s body all over in a way that made him shiver with excitement.

“You’re so tight, boy…” Vlad sighed, breath hot against Danny’s neck.

“I thought I told you…not to hold back,” Danny panted. “What’re you waiting for…?”

“Oh, you really are something else,” Vlad chuckled, starting to move. Danny grit his teeth hard to keep from crying out at how absolutely overwhelming it was, every thrust forcing him up on tiptoe, shoving his face harder against the wall, barely able to feel his hands after they’d been pinned above him so long, god, it was _ecstasy_. Nothing could match this. He knew he’d never be able to go back to jerking off, not after getting a taste of this, but he didn’t care. Right now, he didn’t care about anything but the pleasure of being taken, raw and rough and dirty.

Danny got no warning before Vlad came. The man stifled a moan in his neck, jerking Danny off as he filled him with something hot and stinging against his raw insides, and it was all just too much. Danny came with a ragged cry, thrusting against Vlad’s hand as he rode it out. And he’d thought his _last_ orgasm was amazing…

He felt himself revert to human form, barely conscious, held up only by Vlad as the man gently pulled out and settled them onto the floor, leaning up against the wall with Danny on his lap. The feeling of pins and needles as circulation returned to his hands was awful, and of course his ass ached like no tomorrow, but Danny couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt so pleasantly spent. “You’re not bad, old man,” he mumbled into Vlad’s chest. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were experienced.”

“I _am_ experienced, thank you very much.”

“Oh yeah? With who? Your duplicates?” Vlad’s only reply was an awkward hmph. “Knew it!” Danny laughed. “…you’ll have to show me sometime.”

“It would be my pleasure,” he purred, pulling him into a kiss.

The two of them were lazily making out when the sound of jets, then heavy footsteps, made them look up. “Plasmius. Ghost child,” Skulker said, grinning down at them.

“Why, Skulker, perfect timing,” Vlad said, picking Danny up in his arms as he stood. “I just finished breaking him in for you.”

“Excellent.” Skulker’s grin widened as he leaned close to Danny, gripping his chin in a massive hand. “I’ve got some new hardware I’ve been wanting to put to the test. I hope you’re ready, whelp.”

Danny had just come twice and every part of him hurt, but all he wanted was more. “Bring it on.”

“As intrigued as I am by these new specs of yours, I propose we adjourn to the bedroom first,” Vlad said, already heading for the door. “My library’s in enough of a state at it is.”

“…you have a point,” Skulker said, surveying the broken furniture, cracked plaster, floor splattered with blood and cum and tea. “I see you enjoyed yourselves.”

“We most certainly did,” Vlad said, immensely self-satisfied.

“Okay, so, Skulker…” Danny started as he was carried through the halls, “you _also_ thought we had some sorta weird unspoken fightsex thingy? Why has everyone just been assuming that!?”

“Last time we saw each other, you got upset that I didn’t call you ‘whelp.’”

Danny could feel himself starting to sweat. “…that was…y’know…uh… Yeah, no, I got nothing.”

“I’m just pleased we’ve all finally reached an accord,” Vlad said, pushing open a door with his shoulder and depositing Danny on the unnecessarily large bed before turning human again and starting to undress. There was still knitting tucked in his dressing gown. “I’ll have to thank Jasmine for pushing you to this desperate state.”

“You’d _better_ be joking,” Danny muttered, shifting uncomfortably on his sore ass before finally lying on his stomach.

“So Skulker, this new hardware of yours…” Vlad said, hanging his suit jacket up in the closet, then catching himself as he looked back towards the bed. “You ought to undress too, Daniel; you’re the prize attraction here after all.”

Well, that was somehow both demeaning and flattering. He grumbled something unintelligible, strangely self-conscious as he pulled off his clothes and tossed them on the floor, leaving his boxers on. He was half-hard already and even if Vlad had seen his dick, Skulker hadn’t. At least not yet.

“Yes, I thought I was due for some upgrades,” Skulker said as Vlad sat up on the bed, hair down and naked save for briefs. Danny had to admit it was a good look. “I hadn’t expected I’d get to use them so soon, though.”

There was a faint mechanical whirring from somewhere inside Skulker’s ecto-skeleton before a hole opened up over his crotch and something ribbed and metallic and dripping slick snaked its way out. It was the size of Danny’s forearm. He thought he might faint.

“What are you trying to do, kill the lad!?” Vlad said, clutching Danny protectively to his chest and glaring at Skulker. “There’s a limit to liking it rough, you know! Now you put that thing away.”

Skulker laughed as the mechanical cock retracted and another took its place; this time, it was a size that could plausibly belong to a human. “Just kidding.”

“Hilarious,” Danny muttered, trying to hide his relief. As embarrassing as it was to have Vlad defend him, if Skulker had fucked him with that he might actually have died. If a half-ghost even _could_ die. Either way, he would’ve found out.

“See, now that’s reasonable,” Vlad said, releasing Danny from his arms. “Now then, what’s new? Aside from the…from _that_.”

“Allow me to demonstrate,” Skulker said, grabbing Danny by the arm and pulling him over in front of him. “Down on all fours, whelp.”

Danny gulped, going from half to fully hard as he obeyed, pointing his ass towards Skulker where he stood at the foot of the bed, Vlad lounging in front of them. The boy was shivering with anticipation as Skulker ran a warm metallic hand over his back, down his thigh, lingering over his waistband just long enough to tease, until a sudden shock from his fingertips made Danny yelp, arms giving out under him.

“I see, electrocution built into the chassis itself, is it?” Vlad said, nodding. “Is it just the hands, or anywhere?”

“Mostly just the hands right now,” Skulker said, the constant light shocks continuing as he stroked Danny’s back until he was twitching and drooling onto the sheets. God, he hadn’t been electrocuted in weeks, had it always felt this good? “I’m planning on extending it to the entire chassis eventually, but I was having some issues with control.”

“Yes, it seems like a tricky business,” Vlad said. “I take it you can modulate the output, though?” Danny yelped again as a stronger shock made his hair stand on end, this time collapsing completely, limbs jerking reflexively from the residual electricity. “Oh, very nice!”

“Well, it wouldn’t be much use otherwise, now would it?” Skulker laughed, pulling Danny’s boxers off and dragging him back up. “I _said_ on all fours.”

Danny was too dazed to speak, limbs shaky as he tried to stay more or less upright. Something about this was off, and it wasn’t that he was the only one getting roughed up, but he couldn’t quite place _what_.

“I’ve made quite a few improvements to my hardware since you last saw it, too,” Skulker was saying as he pushed a smooth, hard finger inside Danny and began to stretch. “You saw the size variant, of course, but other than that.”

“It’s prehensile now, yes?” Vlad said. “How on earth did you manage _that?_ ”

“Metallic fiber mesh,” Skulker said, removing his fingers and pressing the tip of his cock up against Danny’s ass. “I can change the girth at will, too. So I can do things like _this_.”

Danny moaned as Skulker entered him easily, cock gently widening from a narrow tip, then cried out as he felt it expand and pulse inside him. He’d never felt anything like it, weird and painful and _amazing_ , and it was only seconds before he was achingly hard and dripping precum.

“You’ll have to show me the schematics,” Vlad said, moving around to get a look. “Hm, I _do_ wish I could see properly… Daniel, be a dear and turn invisible, won’t you?”

Okay, that was it, that was the last straw. “Stop ignoring me!” Danny said, turning to glare at the other two over his shoulder. “You’re supposed to be doing me, stop talking about hardware!”

Vlad sighed, rolling his eyes as he moved back in front of Danny. “Quiet, little badger, the grown-ups are talking,” he said, freeing his cock from his briefs and shoving it into Danny’s mouth. “Now that we won’t be interrupted, would you be so kind as to explain the logistics?”

Well, this was humiliating. This was absolutely the most humiliating thing Danny could even imagine. He was taking it front and back from his two biggest enemies and they were too busy talking about metal spine cores and expandable silicon chambers to even pay attention to him! It was just _rude_ already!

That said, it was also really, _really_ hot. Skulker’s cock twisted and pulsed and vibrated inside Danny as he thrust, making a mess of his insides; Vlad’s hand was knotted in his hair and forcing him down until he gagged and almost choked on him. He’d never felt so good in his life. He couldn’t even process what they were saying anymore; he was too overwhelmed by sensation, reaching down to touch himself, just enough to tease, wanting to make this pleasure last as long as possible.

And suddenly there was another shock, infinitely more intense than the ones before, straight to his sweet spot, and edging was impossible. Danny moaned ecstatically into Vlad’s cock as he came, hips twitching and jerking reflexively, until Vlad let out a gasp of his own and the boy’s mouth was filled with hot sticky cum. He couldn’t have swallowed if he wanted to, collapsing unconscious with Skulker still inside him and Vlad’s cum spilling from his mouth, insensate with pleasure.

When Danny came to he was curled up in Vlad’s lap, a blanket wrapped around the both of them, Skulker sitting on the edge of the bed. “It takes a lot of concentration to do manually, so there’s a sort of autopilot function,” Skulker was explaining. “Oh, I see you’re awake, ghost child.”

“Did you enjoy yourself?” Vlad asked, stroking Danny’s hair.

“Maybe if you hadn’t spent the whole time ignoring me…” Danny muttered, burying his face deeper into the blanket. “…but yeah.”

“Don’t worry,” Vlad laughed, holding him tighter and nuzzling the crook of his neck, “we’ll give you all the attention you could want now.”

“Good,” Danny said, just a little petulantly. He deserved it, after the state they’d put him in. He bet he wouldn’t be able to walk for a week.

“Speak for yourself,” Skulker said, standing up from the bed. “Don’t think this means I’ve stopped hunting you, whelp. In fact, you’re more of a prize than ever. Now then, Skulker has places to be.”

“Oh no you don’t,” Vlad said as Skulker started to leave. “You don’t get to demonstrate your equipment on him and then jet off without so much as a by-your-leave. Now come back to bed and show the boy a bit of affection.”

“Are you asking me to…” he said, turning on his heel to glare down at them. “The Ghost Zone’s greatest hunter does not _cuddle!_ ”

“If he wants to keep his funding he does,” Vlad said, shifting to spoon Danny and patting the bed in front of him.

“C’mon, Skulk, you know you wanna,” Danny said, giving the ghost his most shit-eating grin.

Skulker stood there, grimacing, before finally sighing through his teeth and climbing up on the bed. “I just want you both to know that I am _not_ happy about this.”

“Shut up and hug me,” Danny said. “Oh, and keep the comforter between us, you’re kinda…metal.”

Skulker rolled his eyes, but settled down in front of Danny, throwing a massive arm over him and Vlad. “Happy now?”

“Oh wow, you’re really warm,” Danny said, shifting closer. “You’re like a space heater or something.” Just what his aching body needed.

“The new chassis runs hot, I take it?” Vlad said.

“Another kink to iron out,” Skulker sighed.

“What? No, it’s nice, leave it,” Danny mumbled sleepily.

“There’s a very real possibility of catching on fire if I run anything too intensive.”

“Not my problem.”

“I look forward to mounting your head on my wall,” Skulker muttered.

“Now, now, settle down,” Vlad said. “We’ve discussed this before, but now that I’ve had a taste, I’m really going to have to put my foot down about you hurting my dear Daniel.”

“ _Your_ Daniel? Excuse me?” Danny said dryly.

“How about keeping him in a cage?”

“Oh, that would be quite alright. So long as I’m allowed visitation rights, of course.”

“Jeez Louise, can you two shut up? Are you physically capable of shutting up.” Danny pulled Vlad’s arms closer around him and leaned in closer to Skulker. “I wanna fight you guys just as bad as you wanna fight me, but I thought we were having a ceasefire here.”

Vlad laughed, kissing the top of Danny’s head. “Yes, yes, my apologies, little badger. Make love, not war, is it?”

“I’m still only here because you’re threatening to stop funding me,” Skulker said.

“Again, not my problem,” Danny said, closing his eyes. This was beyond nice; curled up all warm, body aching and spent, teasing Skulker and being doted on by Vlad… Yup, ghost hunting was gonna be a lot more fun from now on.

 

Danny was at the kitchen table, trying to do homework, when there was a sound of light footsteps clattering up from the basement and Jazz rushed in, slamming both hands on the table. “The Specter Storage is broken, all the ghosts escaped!”

“Oh, did they?” Danny said. “Wow, that sure sucks.”

“And it’s not just malfunctioning; someone must have broken in and smashed it, cause it’s scattered all across the lab,” Jazz sighed, slumping into a chair next to him. “ _And_ the schematics are gone. It’ll take me months to build a new one!”

“Aw, Jazz, I’m sorry…” Danny said, putting a hand on her shoulder. “But we got by fine without one up til now, right? You don’t have to keep doing this. And besides, I, y’know… Kinda miss having this as my thing.”

Jazz looked up at him, layering a hand over his with a smile. “…I have kinda been stealing your spotlight, huh… I’m sorry, Danny, I just… You’ve been having such a hard time, and I’ve been worried about my little brother.”

“C’mon, I’ll be fine!” Danny laughed. “I always have been up til now, right? I may just be your little brother, but I _do_ have superpowers, y’know. I can take care of myself.”

“Well, you’re right there. I’ll stop getting in your way, alright? But if you ever need help, just say the word.” Jazz stood, giving him a clap on the shoulder. “Honestly, if I didn’t know any better I’d think you _liked_ getting beat up by ghosts!” she teased.

“A-as if!” he said, laughing just a little nervously.

“Well, I need to clean up the lab, so see you later!” she said, heading back downstairs. “Good luck with your homework!”

“Thanks, I’ll need it,” Danny said, turning back to the worksheet. He needed to get this done soon; he had a date tonight in the Ghost Zone, and he wouldn’t miss it for the world.


End file.
